ARTICLES ABOUT DIRECT TAXES CODE BY DATE - PAGE 2

NEW DELHI: Amid high expectations from the middle class and and industry, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley present's his maiden budget tomorrow that may contain tax sops for the salaried, dumping of the controversial retrospective tax and spelling out of steps to revive investment and manufacturing for growth. There are high hopes that the budget for 2014-15 to be presented in Parliament may actually not tinker with the threshold limit or the other tax slabs but could provide reliefs by incentivising savings.

By: Rana Kapoor Fiscal policy has a crucial role to play in promoting India's long-term economic development and security. Timely tax reforms should form the Central Plank of the new Government's fiscal agenda by removing distortions and enhancing transparency, as well as predictability of tax systems, while increasing the efficiency of tax administration and boosting Tax to GDP ratio. The taxpayer should be treated as a valued stakeholder in the economic development of our nation, with equitable tax laws for both the taxpayers and the tax administration.

By Dinesh Kanabar As the new government gets to work, one key item on the agenda would be the revival of growth. The key to that objective is the revival of the investment climate in India for renewed flow of overseas investments. One aspect that has vitiated the investment climate is the tax regime and this needs to be addressed immediately if we have to provide confidence to investors about India. Over the last three years, several things have shaken up investors. One, we have rampant transfer-pricing disputes in India.

NEW DELHI: A FICCI delegation today called on new Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and suggested to him that the government declare as a policy that retrospective action shall not be resorted to, except in rarest cases. A slew of pre-budget suggestions by the industry body also included implementation of comprehensive Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2015 and review of General anti-avoidance rules (GAAR). "The government could ideally declare as policy that retrospective action shall not be resorted to, save in rarest of cases, but never for creating a fresh onus or liability for a previous period.

NEW DELHI: Pitching for a more industry- friendly business climate, India Inc asked the incoming government led by Narendra Modi to initiate steps aimed at promoting investments and reviving manufacturing, while putting in place a non adversarial tax regime. "They need to resolve the retrospective and other taxation matters and basically ensure that environment is conducive for taxpayers in India," Ficci President Sidharth Birla told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here.

NEW DELHI: In a fresh attack on Finance Minister P Chidambaram, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Monday said, "Chidambaram will have to be born again to match my record as a Finance Minister. " Targeting Chidambaram for his interim budget, Sinha said that the expenditure has been cut savagely. Sinha also raked up the issue of economic slowdown, blaming Chidambaram for the same. He also accused Chidambaram of using 'Tax-Terrorism' on tax payers. This is not the first time that P Chidambaram and Yashwant Sinha have taken pot-shots at each other.

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday accused the BJP-ruled states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh of stalling progress on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. He also said it is possible for India, which is ranked the third-largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, to clock 6%c GDP growth in this financial year. "I think it's possible to aim and achieve a growth rate of 6 per cent in 2014-15, even while I recognise that the international situation remains very, very tepid," he told the media at the All India Congress Committee headquarters here.

NEW DELHI: Raising serious concerns over the proposal to widen the definition of 'accountant' in the Direct Taxes Code, ICAI has told Finance Ministry that the proposed change could result in huge revenue leakages for exchequer. ICAI, the apex grouping of chartered accountants, has contended that expanding the definition would result in individuals with "limited knowledge" issuing requisite certificates. Such a scenario would lead to huge revenue leakages, the body said during a recent meeting with senior Finance Ministry officials.

The government's decision to release the revised Direct Taxes Code Bill for public comments is welcome. The Bill has no legal sanctity with the dissolution of Lok Sabha, but can be the foundation to reform India's direct tax law. The next government must replace the cumbersome income-tax law with a clean new law, settle for low tax rates on the broadest possible base so that the burden on individual taxpaying entities is low, even as the Centre cumulatively...

NEW DELHI: Committing to push Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime, BJP today said it will try to bring on board all states for implementing the indirect tax reform, but remained silent on the proposed Direct Taxes Code (DTC). Accusing the Congress-led UPA government of " Tax terrorism " the party's manifesto promised to provide a "non-adversarial and conducive tax environment" by rationalising and simplifying the tax structure. The UPA government came out with the retrospective amendments to the Income-tax Act 1961 to undo the Supreme Court judgement in the Vodafone tax dispute, inviting sharp criticism from global investors.